Dear Friends
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received updated information regarding the gang rape of a young woman. The rape was recorded and she was blackmailed into marriage. The perpetrators have links to a trafficking gang operating under the patronage of the Gujrat city administration and police. The modus operandi of the gang is to rape poor young women and marry them in court, so they cannot go home and agree to remain partners in the crime. Many have committed suicide.
CASE NARRATIVE:
Information received from Social Welfare Organisation, Rawalpindi
Ms. Erum Shezadi, 28-year-old employee of the University of Gujrat, from where she did her post-graduation, was abducted and gang raped. In March 2016, when she was coming back from an interview at Gujrat Education Center, a distant relative, Mr. Junaid Ashraf, offered to take her in his car, together with his friend, Mr. Nasar Iqbal. Initially reluctant, Ms. Shezadi finally accepted.
While taking her to her house, Ashraf stopped the car at a cold store and offered her a drink. After drinking she became unconscious, whereupon she was gang raped at some place. The perpetrators took videos during the rape. These videos were used to blackmail her for a year. When Shezadi became pregnant, Ashraf married her on 17 March 2017 in a civil court. Nasar Iqbal’s father, Mr. Khalid, made the arrangements and was the witness.
After the marriage, a third person entered the racket, who began making videos of Shezadi. The man’s identity was kept secret, and he was the main link between traffickers and the women who became victims of this racket. The gang of traffickers operates from Rawalpindi, the twin city of Islamabad. According to Shezadi, she came to know about the racket from Ashraf’s phone conversations with the gang, as well as his WhatsApp messages, in which the gang was always asking him to send girls, including Shezadi.
When Ashraf started pressuring her to bring her two younger sisters for the business, Shezadi left his house and took refuge at the shelter of Star Welfare Organisation, Rawalpindi.
The gang reportedly operates in Gujrat under the political cover of the ruling party and local police. Ashraf’s father is the security in charge of Gujrat university, and provides information about the poor female students to his son Junaid. Mr. Khalid deals with the porn videos of students.
Shezadi has complained to local and provincial police officers, but there has been no reply. Similarly, she is waiting for replies from the President, Prime minister, Chief Justice of Pakistan, Chief Justice of Lahore high court, and other authorities.
Although Shezadi’s family is poor, her father educated all three daughters. He drives a three wheeler and survives on daily wages. The victim did her double M.A. from Gujrat University and she helped her family by teaching.
Shezadi is scared of being arrested and that the perpetrators will abduct her sisters for sexual purposes.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Pakistan is both a country of origin and destination, as far as trafficking of women is concerned. Women in Pakistan are most vulnerable to trafficking due to poverty, gender discrimination, lack of education, and ignorance of legal rights. Women and girls are trapped in a structured system, exploited for prostitution, and offered for sale in physical markets. Reports indicate that police accept bribes to ignore prostitution and sex trafficking. Women and girls are also sold into forced marriages; in some cases, their “new husbands” prostitute them in Iran or Afghanistan. In other cases, girls are used as chattel to settle debts or disputes.
Gujrat district is also mentioned in Pakistan Federal Investigation Agency (FIA)’S red book, which states that the majority of the human traffickers belong to Punjab province, particularly from Gujrat and Gujranwala cities, while the rest are from Sialkot, Rawalpindi, Mandi Bahauddin, Sialkot and Pakistani Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The most common routes used by traffickers include Gulistan, Chaman, Rabat, Nushki, Chagai, Mand Ballu, Panjgur, Taftan and Turbat, Balochistan province.
Despite it being a sensitive and critical issue, the absence of any standardized methodology for collecting and analysing data hampers efforts to get reliable information on human trafficking. According to the US State Department Trafficking in Persons report of 2013, victims of sex trafficking in Pakistan were often charged with crimes, while their traffickers remained free. The various government-run ‘women’s shelters’ available to female trafficking victims did not allow women to leave without a male relative or a court order. Aside from reports of abuse and severe lack of freedom of movement in these shelters, there were also allegations that staff and police sold some women unclaimed by their families to men under the guise of marriage.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write letters to the following addresses calling them to take immediate action to provide protection and safety to Erum Shezadi and her sisters. Please also urge them to arrest the perpetrators and take action against the police officials of the Gujrat district, Punjab, for patronizing the trafficking dens in the district. The government must also stop trafficking from Pakistan and unearth all the rackets of trafficking.
The AHRC is writing a separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Question of Violence against women calling for his intervention into this matter.
To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear ___________,
PAKISTAN: Young woman gang raped and blackmailed into marriage by traffickers
Name of victim: Ms. Erum Shezadi, daughter of Ghulam Nabi, Kot Ameer Hussain, post office Jalalpur Jattan, tehseel Gujrat, district Gujrat, Punjab province
Names of alleged perpetrators:
1. Mr. Junaid Ashraf son of Mohammad Ashraf, resident of Raniwal saidan , post office Jalalpur Jattan, Tehsil and District Gujrat, Punjab
2. Mr. Mohammad Ashraf, security in charge of Gurat University, Gujrat district, Punjab
3. Mr. Samar Iqbal, Son of khalid, resident of Jalalpur Jattan, tehsil and disttric Gujrat
4. District police officer, Gurat district, Gujrat
Date of incident: March 2016
Place of incident: Jalalpur Jattan, Gujrat district
I am writing to voice my deep concern regarding the gang rape and forced marriage of a young woman. The gang is operating under the patronage of the Gujrat administration and police, who ignore the complaints from different victims of gang rape and trafficking.
The modus operandi of the gang is to rape, marry in court so that the woman in question cannot go home, and agrees to remain a partner in their crime. Many have committed suicide.
According to the information I received , Ms. Erum Shezadi, 28-year-old employee of the University of Gujrat, from where she did her post-graduation, was abducted and gang raped. In March 2016, when she was coming back from an interview at Gujrat Education Center, a distant relative, Mr. Junaid Ashraf, offered to take her in his car, together with his friend, Mr. Nasar Iqbal. Initially reluctant, Ms. Shezadi finally accepted.
While taking her to her house, Ashraf stopped the car at a cold store and offered her a drink. After drinking she became unconscious, whereupon she was gang raped at some place. The perpetrators took videos during the rape. These videos were used to blackmail her for a year. When Shezadi became pregnant, Ashraf married her on 17 March 2017 in a civil court. Nasar Iqbal’s father, Mr. Khalid, made the arrangements and was the witness.
I am appalled that after the marriage, a third person entered the racket, who began making videos of Shezadi. The man’s identity was kept secret, and he was the main link between traffickers and the women who became victims of this racket. The gang of traffickers operates from Rawalpindi, the twin city of Islamabad. According to Shezadi, she came to know about the racket from Ashraf’s phone conversations with the gang, as well as his WhatsApp messages, in which the gang was always asking him to send girls, including Shezadi.
When Ashraf started pressuring her to bring her two younger sisters for the business, Shezadi left his house and took refuge at the shelter of Star Welfare Organisation, Rawalpindi.
This is shocking for me that the gang reportedly operates in Gujrat under the political cover of the ruling party and local police. Ashraf’s father is the security in charge of Gujrat university, and provides information about the poor female students to his son Junaid. Mr. Khalid deals with the porn videos of students.
This is the state affirs of rule of law that Shezadi has complained to local and provincial police officers, but there has been no reply. Similarly, she is waiting for replies from the President, Prime minister, Chief Justice of Pakistan, Chief Justice of Lahore high court, and other authorities.
Although Shezadi’s family is poor, her father educated all three daughters. He drives a three wheeler and survives on daily wages. The victim did her double M.A. from Gujrat University and she helped her family by teaching.
Shezadi is scared of being arrested and that the perpetrators will abduct her sisters for sexual purposes.
I am distressed to say that Pakistan is both a country of origin and destination, as far as trafficking of women is concerned. Women in Pakistan are most vulnerable to trafficking due to poverty, gender discrimination, lack of education, and ignorance of legal rights. Women and girls are trapped in a structured system, exploited for prostitution, and offered for sale in physical markets. Reports indicate that police accept bribes to ignore prostitution and sex trafficking. Women and girls are also sold into forced marriages; in some cases, their “new husbands” prostitute them in Iran or Afghanistan. In other cases, girls are used as chattel to settle debts or disputes.
I feel shame that Gujrat district is also mentioned in Pakistan Federal Investigation Agency (FIA)’S red book, which states that the majority of the human traffickers belong to Punjab province, particularly from Gujrat and Gujranwala cities, while the rest are from Sialkot, Rawalpindi, Mandi Bahauddin, Sialkot and Pakistani Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The most common routes used by traffickers include Gulistan, Chaman, Rabat, Nushki, Chagai, Mand Ballu, Panjgur, Taftan and Turbat, Balochistan province.
Despite it being a sensitive and critical issue, the absence of any standardized methodology for collecting and analysing data hampers efforts to get reliable information on human trafficking. According to the US State Department Trafficking in Persons report of 2013, victims of sex trafficking in Pakistan were often charged with crimes, while their traffickers remained free. The various government-run ‘women’s shelters’ available to female trafficking victims did not allow women to leave without a male relative or a court order. Aside from reports of abuse and severe lack of freedom of movement in these shelters, there were also allegations that staff and police sold some women unclaimed by their families to men under the guise of marriage.
I, therefore urge you to take immediate action to provide protection and safety to Erum Shezadi and her sisters. I also urge them to arrest the perpetrators and take action against the police officials of the Gujrat district, Punjab, for patronizing the trafficking dens in the district. The government must also stop trafficking from Pakistan and unearth all the rackets of trafficking.
Yours Sincerely,
……………….
PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
1. Mr. Mian Mohammad Nawaz Sharif
Prime Minister
Prime Minister House
Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 922 1596
Tel: +92 51 920 6111
E-mail: secretary@cabinet.gov.pk or pspm@pmsectt.gov.pk
2. Federal Minister of Law and Human Rights
Ministry of Law, Justice and Human Rights
Old US Aid building
Ata Turk Avenue
G-5, Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 9204108
Email: contact@molaw.gov.pk
3. Mr. Rafiq Rajwana
Governor of Punjab
Governor House
Mall Road
Lahore, Punjab
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 42 99203044
Email: governor.sectt@punjab.gov.pk
4. Mr. Chief Justice of Punjab Province,
Lahore High Court
Shahra-e-Quaid-e-Azam, Lahore
PAKISTAN
Tel: +92 42 99212951-66
Fax: +92 42 99212279
Email: webmasterlhc@lhc.gov.pk
5. Mr. Shahbaz Sharif
Chief Minister
Government of Punjab
Province Chief Minister
Secretariat 5-Club Road
GOR-I, Lahore, Punjab
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 42 99205065
Email: cmcomplaintcell@cmpunjab.gov.pk
6.Mr. Justice Tahir Shahbaz
Registrar of the Supreme Court of Pakistan
Constitution Avenue, Islamabad
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 51 9213452
Email: mail@supremecourt.gov.pk
7. Mr. Rana Sana Ullah Khan,
Minister of Law,
Government of Punjab
Punjab Secretariat
Ravi Road
Lahore, Punjab
PAKISTAN
Fax: +92 42 99212004
E-mail: law@punjab.gov.pk
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)
